An American Ace

The future of U.S. tennis has rarely looked brighter--thanks to a long, limber Negro with a supersonic serve and a way of making the extraordinary commonplace. When Arthur Ashe, 22, beat Australia's Roy Emerson, the world's No. 1 amateur, in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Nationals last September, many experts were inclined to dismiss the achievement as an act of God. Emerson had an off day. Last week in Australia, Ashe did it again. And this time he not only defeated Emerson, he demolished, one after another, all three top Aussie tennis stars--with wonderful ease.

For an American who had never played in Australia before, and was competing in a tournament that no American had ever won, Ashe was surprisingly relaxed. His only practice session for the Queensland Lawn Tennis Championship lasted barely an hour. "Frankly," he explained, "I'm lazy. I only like to play." In the quarterfinals, Ashe's opponent was Fred Stolle, the No. 2 man on Australia's Davis Cup squad and runnerup to Emerson at Wimbledon this year. Ashe took only 75 min. to beat Stolle, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. "He aced me 21 times," said Stolle. "That's never happened to me before."

In the semifinals, it was John Newcombe's turn to sample Ashe's game, polished for four years under the coaching of Pancho Gonzales. Co-holder (with Tommy Roche) of the Wimbledon doubles title, Newcombe succumbed 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, in even faster time: 67 min. "He lulled me into a false sense of security," said the Aussie afterward. "I would be winning my service, when suddenly he would get a series of big shots home."

Emerson lasted longer. He even won two sets. But in the last set, Ashe broke the Aussie's serve twice, gave up only nine points, and ran out the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Said Emerson: "With Ashe on the team, I don't think the U.S. will have any trouble getting through to the Challenge Round for the Davis Cup next year." The big question is whether Ashe will be on the team. He is scheduled to go into the Army next June--as an artilleryman.

The possibility of getting into a different kind of match in Viet Nam did not dismay Arthur Ashe. "Those bullets don't have much appeal for me, I'll admit," he said. "But if there's a job to do over there, the sooner it's over the better. I'll be proud to serve."

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